Thursday, April 20, 2006

Oilers beating Wings already

In the first skirmish of this year's playoff series, the Oilers have crushed the Red Wings.

I'm talking, of course, about the playoff slogans, which can make or break the second season.

Detroit came out of the gate with "Bring it!" -- which I thought was pretty lame until Christy listed all of the former slogans used by the Red Wings including such inspirational lines as "Get Up!", "I Want Stanley!", and "Are You Ready?".

The Oil have countered with with "Get Electric!". Sure it might still be weak, but at least it assures that Oilers fans will be doing something other than sitting in their seats thinking: "Now I know I was supposed to bring something, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was."

The oilers probably stuck with the whole electricity theme in order to re-use that horrible intro that lasts about 20 minutes and shows every player with little bits of electricity buzzing on them. We're talking some pretty good special effects here, "Back to the Future" good.

Good question. I was only there once, and it was pre-game, so most of the action was in the bars or the lineup outside Melrose.

Information is conflicting. Al Koenig, head of the police union, has been insisting that it WAS worse than we knew about then, including one gunshot (into the air) and lots of knives spotted; the individuals disappeared into the Red Sea.

He says the police brass didn't let on about this because it would have looked bad for them and the City. OTOH, I would have expected some media reports if it were true, AND, it's not like Koenig has ever made any kind of statement that might result in fewer cops, less overtime, etc.

No one died, I know that, but if the whole thing happens all over again, I don't see how things could be anything but worse (more dangerous, chaotic, etc.).

Short answer: the police are probably wise to be more strict, though I don't see how the high-and-mighty announcement helps. They should have just done what they needed to do, quietly, if you ask me, which you did.